Originally Posted by
tom_MN
Completed trip with no issues but found the return trip a bit daunting:
I guess it's a state of emergency in France, but having to do an immigration process transiting AMS and then entering/leaving France again the same day? Seems like the purpose of the Schengen agreement was to reduce immigration checks, but in this case we had to do immigration entering/leaving the Netherlands, then again entering/leaving France.
Here's the return trip:
1. At MRS, Air France check in is in Hall 4, but the plane left from Hall 2. At least they are connected by a walkway.
2. On arrival in Hall 2 there's a passport control check and short interview, no passport stamps.
2. Arrive AMS, proceed through somewhat mob scene-esque immigration queue/mob, this time with no interview but receive a Schengen exit stamp, proceed to gate on boarding pass E-1.
3. Arrive at gate E-1 to find that planes don't leave from here, this is a Delta passenger staging area.
4. Queue up for someone to scan your boarding passes, then get directed to another queue.
5. New queue includes rather extensive interview of bag packing and how we spent our time in France, then given a paper ticket for some reason and have pink paper squares adhered to our passports with someone's initials on them, and are given the actual boarding gate.
Plenty of time, but all in all a bit of a trial.
Your steps 3-5 are standard procedure (and have been for quite a few years). Transiting to the US on Delta at AMS requires additional screening--Delta is always handled at E1. I think they recently moved from D1 to E1, but same procedure applies.
All US-bound flights on Delta will show the gate as E1 on the flight information boards and they won't tell you the actual gate until you are finished with your interview (or you look it up through other means like I do
).
I can't remember the specific security-related reason for this, but this is not out of the ordinary.